Milwaukee Bucks recall Mamadi Diakite from G League assignment
The Milwaukee Bucks are bringing together their full squad ahead of the All-Star break.
Milwaukee announced earlier Wednesday morning that they have recalled two-way player Mamadi Diakite from his G League assignment as he has been with the Lakeland Magic for the last month.
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While with the Magic, Diakite took the G League by storm and stood a central figure behind their 7-5 record to their run down in Orlando.
In his 12 appearances with the Magic, Diakite averaged a team-leading 18.5 points on .583/.500/.750 shooting splits, 10.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 2.1 blocks across 27.7 minutes per game.
By stuffing the stat sheet in the consistent manner he did by compiling eight 20-point games and nine double-doubles, Diakite eventually worked his way into the Magic’s starting lineup under head coach Stan Heath over the last few games before eventually being recalled by the Bucks.
Mamadi Diakite could have a future role with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Of course, all Bucks fans are wondering whether their decision to recall Diakite will eventually lead to the 24-year-old seeing minutes up with the big club. To this point, Diakite has yet to even see a minute with the Bucks, whether that was over the preseason and their regular season.
To that end, it’d be hard-pressed for Diakite to squeeze into the Bucks’ defined rotation, especially with their established frontcourt of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. And with Milwaukee getting back to full health following the return of Jrue Holiday, who had missed 10 games last month after contracting COVID-19, the Bucks will be entering the All-Star break with their full squad looking for a nice layoff.
That all doesn’t mean that Diakite doesn’t hold value to the Bucks’ long-term future, however. Given that Diakite is on two-way contract, the Bucks could always look to convert his two-way deal into a standard NBA contract for the minimum in the offseason.
While that spot will more than likely be reserved for a buyout signing down the road, Diakite’s potential and development is worth investing in from a Bucks perspective. The Bucks’ coming cap crunch and ever-evolving need to look for high-value deals at the end of their roster warrants plenty of creativity and shrewd scouting as many of their future draft picks are tied up with other teams.
Given that he’s intrigued enough while on assignment to the G League, Diakite has shown all of the right things that makes him worth a look and could potentially reverse the trend of how the Bucks have traditionally gone about utilizing their two-way players.
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Whether the Bucks ultimately feel the same about the undrafted product remains to be seen and we’ll continue to follow whether Diakite ultimately worms his way into the Bucks’ overall foundation.